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Episode 59: Overneath

This week, things get back to normal. Each host is recording from their respective, powered home. We have four new album reviews, including the one we missed last week. We even have a discussion that doesn’t turn into a debate/fight (and Brian is able to follow the whole thing)! Weird, right? Don’t worry…there is a little debating during one of the album reviews. We even have a quick live review of Lamb of God show that went down at Roseland Ballroom in NYC two nights ago. So, yeah…things are about as normal as they get around here.

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I’m alive! It was good to see you at Roseland the other night, Brian. I survived the pit for Lamb of God. It was a blast! At some point after the pit opened up, I ended up getting pushed towards the back near the sound guy and then I just stayed there. Even though I’ve been to Roseland many times, I’m never quite sure where the pit will open up there because the place is so big (it holds over 3,000 people). Smaller places such as Irving Plaza or Bowery Ballroom have less room for the pit so it’s more predictable where it will be, which is sometimes the entire floor but at least you know that going in.

-I’m not a big fan of live albums in general. As I think you may have been alluding to, most of the time just listening to a live album (not watching a live DVD) comes across as a watered down, imperfect version of a studio recording and adds nothing to a band’s legacy. At best, a live album acts as a greatest hits package, but in the digital age I just end up buying individual songs from studio recordings of a band and create my own greatest hits album if one doesn’t exist.

One of my favorite live albums is Judas Priest Live from the late 80s. As Nick said, a lot of a live recording depends on the vocals. On Priest Live, Rob Halford had gotten sober and was at the top of his game. Plus at the time it was released it was Judas Priest’s only “greatest hits” album that had their 80s songs on it, so it has fond childhood memories for me but I still think it holds up very well today.

As for the new Machine Head live album, I love the set list. It looks like it might be the exact set list they played at Best Buy Theater earlier this year. I think Locust is their best album so to have (almost) all the songs from that album is a plus and then they added lots of their best older songs. But is this a must buy for me that I have to own? Not really. I see it more as a curiosity for me to see how it sounds rather than something I need to own and would listen to over and over again. If I want to listen to their songs over and over, I prefer the studio versions.

-No one’s louder live than Machine Head? You haven’t been to a Manowar concert.

-“Koi No Yokon”: it’s amazing what you can learn from comic books. I like Fables, but I thought that first storyline in Fairest was pretty lackluster. I haven’t read the last few issues but am hoping it gets better, as I haven’t stopped buying it (yet).

-While I don’t have any specific albums in mind, I might suggest another “let me try that one again” in future episodes. I’m guessing there are some longer albums that maybe needed more time to be absorbed before you reviewed them that could benefit from further listening. Then there is the stuff to revisit as tastes have changed throughout the year (myself included). Or another way you could incorporate a “let me try that one again” is to have it after you read Decibel’s (or anyone else’s) Top 10 list for the year. Inevitably, you are going to read Decibel’s list and say, “Hmm, since Decibel is ranking some doom album so high then maybe I should listen to it again.” Come up with your own list first, then have an episode that other lists inspired you to give something else another listen.